Swan Song
Mechanics As noted, Swan Song (often dubbed "swanning") allows players to continue fighting for a brief period of time once health is depleted, acting as a temporary sort of "invulnerability mode" (at the cost of speed) before finally collapsing. Upon losing all health, the perk icon appears in the centre of the health ring, which turns blue and depletes until the time expires and the player is incapacitated. Whilst the penalty caps all movement, players are still able to sprint (albeit at 40% speed). At its basic level, players only have three seconds to continue fighting, whereas aced players have a total of nine seconds and bottomless magazines. The ammo effect is identical to Bullet Storm, allowing for spam attacking with single- and burst-fire weapons, and for continuous spraying with automatic weapons. It has no effect on the GL40 or the HRL-7. Additionally, players can continue to act as normal until collapse, meaning standard interactions can be performed provided they can be completed within the brief time window. Using a Doctor Bag during Swan Song will restore the player to full health and downs, before promptly depleting one life upon collapse. Trying to use a First Aid Kit will not work, as the health bar is already empty. It should be noted that this skill is only triggered by typical enemy damage, caused by gun damage and standard melee attacks. As a result, the following will not trigger it: * Being downed by a Cloaker kick or Taser shock, as health does not decrease to zero; being shocked or kicked during Swan Song simply cancels the effect. * Taking environmental damage, such as falling from a fatal height or being incapacitated by fire damage, does not trigger the skill despite health reaching zero. * Being downed by friendly fire, such as a grenade blast, still causes an instant down. If Swan Song is already in effect, friendly fire will end it prematurely. Strategy Provided they can go down once more, players near collapse can cause significant harm to enemies by pushing towards them; for example, a Bulldozer becomes a much lesser threat when collapsing is inevitable and magazines are bottomless, allowing for large damage before succumbing. Conversely, the skill can allow for more defensive moves, such as using the skill to retreat into cover where you can be revived. With the skill aced, you can also revive a fallen teammate (six seconds out of nine) but players must be close enough or use Inspire due to the speed penalty. Further, the skill can be used as an alternative to Die Hard, allowing for several primary weapon hits before having to swap to secondary; as such, it works especially well with Pistol Messiah. Additionally, the skill is complemented by several damage-based perks: under the right circumstances, Enforcer skills like aced Berserker, aced Shotgun Impact, and basic Underdog can cause devastating damage. To maximize the usefulness of the skill, it is strongly recommended that the player bring weapons with high damage and rate of fire so that the player can deal the most damage possible while they still have no reloads and health. The Judge, Clarion, and STRYK 18c, along with many LMGs and SMGs, are ideal candidates due to their high rates of fire. Bugs * Although players are invulnerable while under the effects of Swan Song, it is possible to enter bleed out before the timer expires by taking environmental damage (such as falling from a great height). This can cause unintended side effects: for example, being revived quickly with Inspire or Pistol Messiah, the reduced speed and unlimited ammo effects can remain for a short time. * Being incapacitated by a Cloaker after health depletes can result in being stunned by the Cloaker, only to enter the standard downed state when the timer expires (i.e. guns can be fired and Pistol Messiah used). * Being shocked by a Taser during Swan Song stops the effect, meaning players will return to normal state (albeit at zero health). If shocked, players escaping the effect will only then re-enter Swan Song after taking damage again, and players incapacitated will not lose a life; as such, being deliberately shocked means these loopholes can be abused for extended Swan states or to avoid custody. * Like the Taser example above, being incapacitated by a Cloaker kick while swanning will trigger a Cloaker down, ending the Swan Song prematurely but not subtracting a life. Again, this can be tactically abused to avoid going into custody, or to deliberately take the hit for another player whilst saving a down. * As of Update 46, an issue with the skill causing issues during the escape when completing the heist has been fixed. * As of Update 46, an issue with the skill's in-game icon remaining stuck on the screen after being downed by friendly fire while it was active has been fixed. Trivia * The skill name comes from the ancient Greek metaphor of the same name. The term refers to people performing a dramatic effort prior to dying, making a comparison to swans who were (inaccurately) believed to sing only before dying. * If you try to heal yourself while in Swan Song effect, it will say in text on the screen "YOU ARE NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD!", maybe a reference to the collections of Fantasy and Horror tales for fictional stories of Not Long for this World. Category:Skills